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Beyond MDM: The 5 Stages of the Total Mobile Experience

Image: ajleon/Flickr

Whenever you get up and go to work, there’s a good chance you’ll grab your smartphone on your way out the door, and maybe your tablet, too. As soon as you have your first meeting, if you aren’t using your laptop or desktop, you’re likely sending work emails on your smartphone or saving presentations and spreadsheets to your tablet. By lunch, the files and data you need are suddenly scattered across three or four different devices.

This bring-your-own-device (BYOD) scenario happens every day in companies across the country. And, while the pervasiveness and ease-of-use of personal devices may be a productivity boon for employees, it can be a nightmare for IT departments trying to deal with data security. IT is working to keep tabs on every device interacting with the corporate network through mobile device management (MDM), but it’s still difficult to track and monitor the flow of information across today’s multitude of platforms and devices. And the problem is only going to get worse, especially as Gartner expects half of all employers to require workers to bring their own devices to the office by 2017.

More mobile devices and programs will introduce new challenges for IT organizations, which means companies have a long way to go in terms of securing data protection, if Gartner’s prediction is correct. But, the big question is going to be around how employees are using their devices and what makes them the most productive… and how companies can protect files and data with secure BYOD policies. MDM helps integrate mobile devices into an organization’s IT infrastructure, but it’s just a building block for something much bigger. In the future, companies will create a total mobile experience that seamlessly spans across platforms, an experience that consists of five different stages:

1. Mobile Device Management

As the fundamental stage for security in the BYOD world, MDM is all about centralizing the management of the devices employees are using for work, whether at home or in the office. That way, IT can monitor access and use, ensuring there’s no data leakage, and workers will have the freedom to use whatever devices they want.

2. Mobile File Management

Once devices are secured, employees also need access to the files and content they use every day to do their jobs. MFM guarantees that IT can have complete and secure control over which files are accessed, modified and deleted. In this way, companies can go beyond managing devices by directly managing the sensitive data being used on them. Whether a worker leaves a company or loses a device, MFM allows IT to remotely wipe the company’s files. In short, MFM balances the need for easy–to-use mobile file access for employees and IT departments’ need for enterprise-grade security and management.

3. Bridging the Old with the New

The BYOD world started with MDM and functionality is expanding with MFM, but now that mobile is a native platform for employees, there are countless productivity apps that are meant for use on-the-go. When employees travel for work, it’s taken for granted that they’re going to bring personal devices on the trip and use them to check email, collaborate on projects and manage customer relationships.

Take LinkedIn as an example. The professional social media network provides a free mobile app that allows users to enjoy all the functionality of the website, but with a mobile-friendly interface. And, when a user gets back to the office and logs onto LinkedIn from a desktop, the conversations and connections they started on the app can be continued from there.

LinkedIn’s app is a great example of how programs are starting to build bridges from the old world (desktop) to the new (mobile) — bridges that enable apps, data and functionality to easily travel between legacy devices and mobile ones.

That being said, technology isn’t going to sit still. Sooner rather than later, mobile devices are going to be a primary platform for workers. BI forecasts that tablets alone will overtake PCs in the next two to three years. By 2015, IDC expects 1.3 billion people to be working from mobile devices. Desktops, even laptops, will fall out of favor as solutions continue to evolve that make it easier to get work done on a mobile touchscreen than a stationary one that requires a mouse and keyboard.

4. Mobile-Only Apps

As mobile becomes a way of life for workers, we can expect to see explosive growth in apps that are exclusively designed for mobile environments. In some ways, we can see the success of mobile-only programs by looking at one of the most popular apps — Instagram. The photo-sharing app can’t be used on a traditional computer, but has more than 100 million active monthly users. It’s easy-to-use and intuitive on a smartphone, because it was designed with that device in mind. Instagram is meant for consumers, but business and productivity apps are sure to follow. Mobile-only apps have a very distinct advantage, because they are built with the knowledge that people will be using them on small touchscreens and constantly be moving around.

With more of these programs being developed for next-generation mobile devices, we’re going to see countless new innovations that become harder and harder to replicate on the desktop. Mobile apps will make use of geo-fencing and location awareness to streamline productivity in ways that were never before possible.

5. Bridging the New Back to the Old

After the rapid development of mobile apps, there are going to be bridges built in the other direction. Just like mainframes never fully went extinct, desktops and the functionality they bring to the working world won’t fully go extinct, either. So, new world mobile apps will need to build bridges back to old world infrastructures and interfaces.

Again, we can look at Instagram. While the social network started as mobile-only, there’s now an Instagram website that, although limited in functionality, allows users to access photos and followers from desktops and laptops.

All of these stages will overlap to some degree. Instead of totally replacing the old world, mobile devices and apps will lead it forward with innovations that will forever change the definition of the workplace.

The Total Mobile Experience

Adapting to the mobile landscape won’t be about devices so much as the files and data. To ensure productivity, IT teams will have to create a seamless experience for employees as they work across multiple platforms, in multiple environments, and through multiple channels. This experience will be enriched by mobile apps and devices that take full advantage of the new normal — in the office and outside of it.